The one essential petroleum product that cannot be replaced by any known technology is jet fuel. It is a vital matter of national security that we have enough U.S.-based reserves to keep our fighters and bombers airborne well into the next century.

If we drill it and burn it now, it will not be available in 2050 when we really need it. Leave it in the ground. Like an alcoholic raiding the cabinet for that last drop of cr me-de-menthe, some politicians are playing to the immediate desires of voters and their own self interests. We need leadership with a greater vision if we are truly going to do something "for the children."